Google reviews and how to respond to them...

[Mike Robbins]

Chip,

I was a little on the fence about this as well. The point we were trying to convey to other people who might be reading this review is that from the dealership's position, this may not be a disgruntled customer at all, rather a competing dealer flaming us. I really like you suggestion, and I will use it, so thank you!

 

[Mike Robbins]

@ Glenn,

I did reply with quote to you, but it did not post yet (waiting for mod approval). My first day here was last Friday and one of the things I did that morning was update Google Place page, Yahoo, Bing, Manta, etc... I'm waiting on the Google postcard. Also, thank you for the tip!

 

[Mike Robbins]

Ok, first of all, thanks for all the help and suggestions. I received the PIN# postcard yesterday from Google, so now we are "Owner Verified". I was able to post the owner reply to the negative review and did use Chip's suggestion (thank you Chip). Now I have to questions:

1) I can see the owner response on the desktop site, but not the mobile version. The mobile version only shows the reviews, not responses. Any ideas on why this is and if/how I can change it?

2) Somewhat unrelated, we are one company with three store locations here in town. Can I have one Google place page with three locations on it, or do I really have to have three separate place pages, and if so, how will the impact SEO/SEM?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions!

-Mike

 

[Kelly Wilson]

Mike,
I'm SO glad you took Chip's idea!!! ANY confrontation, even if it makes you feel like you're getting the real message out, is BAD news (I've learned the hard way). I've had some BAD and fake review to overcome and I've found posting as a manager saying you don't know the situation but would like to help out with a personal cell# works for most cases and lets others see that you are willing to reach out to make right.
1) Due to the limited nature of the mobile site it seems that Google is not posting responses to any reviews I can find on the mobile site. Alas, it's google and there's another change every other week at least, so we'll just have to wait (maybe Sir Brian Pasch can spur a change with his connections)
2) GET DIFFERENT PAGES!!!!!! Every address needs a Place page. Auto Complexes with one address FIGHT to have multiple pages and single point stores sometimes go out of bounds to make multiple Place pages too. One reason of many: when searching for your store or brand, there will be 3 places pages to fill the page and remove your competitors from page one.
SEO/SEM...Do you have 1 site for all 3 locations? --I know this will make a bit of a difference, though it's not my strongest suit.

 

[Mike Robbins]

Kelly, thanks for the advice. I have set up the Google Place page for our second location and will be working on the third soon.

Regarding SEO/SEM, yes. One website for all three locations.

 

[yagoparamo]

Kelly, thanks for the advice. I have set up the Google Place page for our second location and will be working on the third soon.

Regarding SEO/SEM, yes. One website for all three locations.

Mike,

I learned a lot about this from Brian Pash, good team to reach out about your Google places.

If your locations are close enough, you should also investigate the possibilities to use different categories so you should in more diverse searches.

Furthermore you should open a Google places for your other business--the service and parts department!--it will make your dealer show when customers search for 'brake service' in your town. A microsite for service will direct cusotmers to the right place and the inventory can also be there.

 

[Jerry Thibeau]

 

[Mike Robbins]

Yago, this is good advice. Thank you. (We have an off-site service location, but no parts dept.)

Jerry, so true!

 

[john.quinn]

Furthermore you should open a Google places for your other business--the service and parts department!--it will make your dealer show when customers search for 'brake service' in your town. A microsite for service will direct cusotmers to the right place and the inventory can also be there.

You need to be very careful with this if the Service and Parts departments are at the Same Address. If the business has the same name at the same address, Google will mash-up the listings, and people will get confused.

Trust me, I know.... Mercedes store "mashed" with Lexus store and Chrysler store -- and it's damn-near impossible to get them un-mashed.

 

[yagoparamo]

You need to be very careful with this if the Service and Parts departments are at the Same Address. If the business has the same name at the same address, Google will mash-up the listings, and people will get confused.

Trust me, I know.... Mercedes store "mashed" with Lexus store and Chrysler store -- and it's damn-near impossible to get them un-mashed.

JQ,

Some dealers have complained about issues with this beyond having the same address, more like Google having some bugs in their system. Then we have seen dealers using the same address but different suite (like google recomends stores in a shopping mall should set things up). However to make sure... use a different phone number, URL (get a differetn site OR just buy a URL like [yourdealer]service.com and deeplink to the service part of your main website), etc. The more unique you make it the harder will be for google to mix them up.